


one thousand dreams

by inkyluu



Series: our love blossoms [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Dancer AU, Family, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Friends since birth, Growing Old Together, Growing Up Together, M/M, Soulmates, angsty beginnings but we're getting there folks, platonic reigisa, side sourin - Freeform, strap your belts on kids, the rest of the squad is in here too don't worry, this is going to be pure vanilla, yes my boys are all going to be dancing, you just try to stop me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-05-22 18:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6090814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkyluu/pseuds/inkyluu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He told them of how the room received just a little more color the moment infant Haruka set his eyes on newborn Makoto. It was as if the room had been filled with a sense of enchantment and magic. </p><p>Makoto’s brown hair was joined by the outstretching pink petals of his new camellias and a light, flowery scent. In mere seconds, the buds on Haruka’s head blossomed to beautiful bright blue hydrangeas. The room filled with the pleasant scent of camellias and hydrangeas.</p><p>Then to add on to their shock, serious baby Haruka giggled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

  Tachibana Makoto couldn’t recall a time in his life when the camellias on his head were not in full bloom.

He had always been a curious child. He wanted to know why things were the way they were. He always asked his mother about the world before him; why the birds sometimes sang in the middle of the night and why the cherry blossoms bloomed at almost the same time yearly. He took in the information his mother gave him like a sponge. His droopy green eyes would shine in fascination at every word she spoke and he’d hold to the hem of her skirt tightly when she finished her explanation, begging her to continue to tell him about the world they lived in.

 Makoto was a curious person when it came to the unknown and didn’t quite note of the ordinary. There was no time to worry about the ordinary when there were so many mysteries out there for him to uncover. So when it came down to the bright pink camellias that adorned his head, he never asked nor had any interest in asking about them. He saw his mother with her own flowers and his father had flowers on his head too. Everyone important to him had flowers. Even Haruka, Makoto’s friend from birth, had his own set of fully bloomed hydrangea flowers nestled within the locks of his smooth raven hair.

Haruka never spoke ill of Makoto’s flowers. Instead, sometimes they both spoke fondly of their flowers, whether it was Makoto’s camellias or Haruka’s hydrangeas. Makoto thought that the blue of the flowers made Haru’s eyes look really pretty.

 He was surrounded by the colorful crowns of flowers within hair. Therefore, he always had assumed that it was normal to have them at birth like he had and that there wasn’t really much to explain about them. All the adults he met had them and Haruka had them too. That was enough for him.

 So Makoto went about his childhood normally and thought nothing of the camellias.

It was that way for years until one cool evening. While playing with toy cars at Haruka’s house, Haruka’s grandma had called to Makoto and told him to stop playing a moment. His twin siblings had been born and they were both healthy and strong enough to have visitors over. She said that Makoto was allowed to go see them and his mother now.

 Haruka let Makoto hold his hand as they went down the stairs to his home. The memory was somewhat vague and fuzzy, but Makoto could always remember how excited and scared he was after so many months of waiting to be a big brother. He wondered what kind of beautiful flowers would decorate his twin siblings’ heads. He could always recall the way Haruka squeezed his hand upon going into the home, sheltered from the cool evening breeze and the coming clouds. In that moment, he didn’t imagine how much his life would change.

 “Papa, mama, why don’t they have flowers in their hair like us?”

Everything had gone normally until Makoto was presented his baby brother and sister; in that moment Makoto’s eyes peered at his siblings in confusion. There were certainly small bumps within the small tuffs on hair on their head but there were no flowers. It was a worrying sight for someone like Makoto who grew in a blissful ignorance of the meaning of the camellias on his head.

His siblings weren’t like them. They didn’t have flowers blooming bright and proud from their heads like he and seemingly everyone else did. Did that mean something was wrong with them?

“I think they’re still too little to have big flowers on their head, Makoto.” Haruka told him calmly after noticing the look of worry. His cheeks puffed from a explanation that he felt should have been obvious to his friend.

“But when I was born, I had the flowers! Mama has the album of pictures.”

“I didn’t have my flowers when I was born. My mom said that mine appeared after you were born. In pictures when she was a little girl, she didn’t have her flowers either. She said she only got hers after she met my papa.”

Makoto looked at them all in horror. Was _he_ the strange one?

It was with a nervous laugh that his mother exchanged a glance with his father. “Please calm down, honey.” She managed a weak smile and giggle. His father excused himself at the nod of her head.

Makoto had just begun to accept his fate as the strange one in their town when his father pulled both of the confused boys aside to a different room where they wouldn’t disturb the sleeping twins.

They sat against the wall as Makoto’s father squatted before them and offered them a gentle smile.

Then they were taken to a time where their memories didn’t reach. A quiet and cold November evening- the 17th of November to be exact. The lights in the Tachibana household were dimmed upon Mrs. Tachibana’s request.  

Haruka’s father consoled his son who had become upset at Mrs. Tachibana’s cries and pleads, and her husband who was a nervous and waiting father to be. His wife stood before the mother to be and a midwife was at her side. The midwife steadily attended Mrs. Tachibana. As Mr. Tachibana explained to the boys, Haruka was too young to understand or even remember what was going on.

The whimpers were tripled as the night came to end. A healthy baby boy was born at home safely just as his mother had wanted. He was welcomed to the world with bright, kind smiles, his mother’s warm and safe arms, and a thorough cleaning.

“Your mother brought you to Makoto as soon as he was cleaned and wrapped in his blanket.” Mr. Tachibana said to the older of the boys. “She really only meant for a simple introduction for the giggles because we thought you’d get jealous at the sight of a new baby, but what we saw was something we could have never imagined to see.”

He told them of how the room received just a little more color the moment infant Haruka set his eyes on newborn Makoto. It was as if the room had been filled with a sense of enchantment and magic. Makoto’s brown hair was joined by the outstretching pink petals of his new camellias and a light, flowery scent. In mere seconds, the buds on Haruka’s head blossomed to beautiful bright blue hydrangeas. The room filled with the pleasant scent of camellias and hydrangeas.

Then to add on to their shock, serious baby Haruka giggled.

“It was.. certainly a sight!” Mr. Tachibana nodded while he retold what he remembered. “I think Nanase-kun’s giggle was enough to make us scratch our heads, but the whole situation was really something amazing.”

While Haruka silently sulked at the teasing, Makoto faced his father with eyes full of interest. It didn’t sound like he wasn’t normal, but he still wasn’t too sure. “Papa?”

“Yes?”

Makoto thought for a moment. If he really wasn’t normal then the next few exchanges between him and his father could potentially affect his confidence forever. But he wasn’t scared. As young as he was, he knew he had been blessed with a normal life. He couldn’t see how anything could ever come in the way of his calm life with his family and Haruka’s.

“What does it mean when our flowers bloom?”

His father crossed his arms as he remained squatted in front of the two young boys. The explanation was something that usually came with time. It wasn’t exactly a conversation that came with as much difficulty as explaining the birds and the bees, but it wasn’t something easy to explain to young children. Makoto was definitely mature for his age, as with Haruka, but Mr. Tachibana could never expect to understand the magnitude of the situation fully.

The talk of soulmates and how they worked in their world wasn’t a simple conversation. It usually came when the children were in high school or college. By then, they would have already been exposed to stories and history of those who have fallen in love. The children would have their own little definition of a soulmate and know the importance of the day when their blossoms bloomed.

It was very rare for childhood friends to be each other’s soulmates, let alone have it happen when the child is merely a newborn. What happened to Haruka and Makoto was truly extraordinary, and for a long time both the Nanase and Tachibana households would get chills just thinking about it. It was a beautiful thing, certainly, but it was so unexpected and rare that it was shocking. They spent years wondering what to do.

 The most traditional way to go about dealing with such a rare phenomenon was to let the children slowly figure it out on themselves. They’d reach an age where they’d understand the magnitude of the circumstances all by themselves and embrace it together.

However, the both of them would enrolled into school soon. They’ll likely be different than many of the children in their class. It would definitely be unjust to leave them in confusion and possible despair over being different than everyone else. So it was only fair that now, as the question had come up, was the time to explain what exactly was going on.

“Well.. You see, you two, we live in a world where something very special happens when you meet someone you like very much.” Mr. Tachibana scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. It sounded pretty cheesy to him, really, even if it was the world they lived in. “Makoto, when your mother and I first met in high school, our flowers bloomed. Nanase-kun, the same happened to your parents. I think it was even earlier for your parents, though.. We loved each other very much, just like the flowers told us. So we ended up getting married.

“I think it’s still a little difficult for you both to fully understand. But when you saw Makoto after he was born, Nanase-kun, both of your  flowers bloomed just like ours. It means you are his soulmate and he is yours, just like your mama and papa.”

Makoto and Haruka faced each with wide eyes. They both grabbed their own flowers in nearly synchronized movements. In that moment of their shared silence, it was as if their flowers only became brighter and stood out more from the strands of their hair;

It was Makoto who left that state of childish state of innocent shock first. His small hand reached to gently touch and stroke the bright blue petals on Haruka’s head. Haruka joined in with some shy hesitance and touched Makoto’s camellias.

A light sensation came to Makoto’s chest as his hand caressed his friend’s petals. They were smooth. They felt soft and smelled sweet.

They meant that Haru was his soulmate.


	2. Chapter 2

“H-hello.. I’m Tachibana Makoto.. and.. and.. Haru is my soulmate..!”

  
The morning of their first day of school, Makoto clung to his mother. He told her over and over that he didn’t want to go away from her or his papa to be with other children he didn’t know. He wanted to stay home and help them around the house, or even to play with the twins and let them pull at his hair. He wouldn’t agree to go even if Haruka was there with him. He cried from fear and begged to stay home with them. It was a miracle, but they somehow managed to convince him to at least try a day at school. His parents told him he’d make friends. They said he’d enjoy it and it’d make him become an even more intelligent and mature boy.

The memories of his first day were vague and blurry all except for two; the constant eyes of fascinated children he felt on his camellia flowers and the moment he was called upon by the teacher to introduce himself to the other kids. He shook in utter nervousness, especially because of the staring children, and didn’t go up until Haruka agreed to hold his hand while he spoke.

As promised, Haruka held his hand tightly and helped him to his feet. They both walked to the front of the class together and Haruka gave his hand a reassuring squeeze when it was time for him to speak.

Then Makoto gave his introduction. He was so nervous that it was almost endearing for their young teacher to hear him say such a thing in a shaking voice as a way to introduce himself. He remembered her laugh and the children looking at the two boys curiously after he said it. He could always remember how the way Haru’s hand had held his own felt, especially when he squeezed it after his introduction as if to say “good job”. He had faint memories of the questions that followed, mostly regarding the flowers and what a soulmate was.

When Makoto was taken back home, he told his parents that he hated school. His eyes became full of tears as he retold what he felt on his first day. Makoto said that he had missed being home with the four of them. He said he felt like an outsider. All the kids ever did was stare at his flowers. They appeared almost afraid to approach him and it made him feel sad. It was a similar situation for Haruka, he told them. He hated seeing them stare at Haru like that too.

They told him that the children were likely just curious. His mother squatted down to his height and cupped his soft cheeks as tears ran down them. In a benevolent voice, she told him it’d all be okay and that his flowers made him look adorable.

“But I don’t want them anymore. Can Haru stop being my soulmate?” He asked while he rubbed his tearful eyes. It was a moment of weakness for a child who was normally mature enough to keep such thoughts at bay. He couldn’t help it.

After that, he didn’t quite remember anything else that happened that day. But the memories of those words would last for years and the guilt of having ever wished for that would linger along with them.

From there on out the days became easier on Makoto. Since he was in the same class as Haruka, he had someone to be with whenever he was too nervous to ask if he could play with another group. But of course he didn’t always cling to Haruka. Sometimes he’d go off and play with the other boys while Haruka was pulled along by another group as well. Yet they both always found their ways back to each other, whether it was sitting next to each other while they shared their lunch or lying together on the big futon for their nap with the rest of the class.

The both of them had always just assumed and agreed they’d be alone in their own little world. It wasn’t that they couldn’t get along with the children and become friends with them too. Of course they could. That’s why they were asked out to play and have lunch together from time to time; the kids found both of the boys to be enjoyable. The issue was something else.

It was their flowers that brought them to the conclusion that it’d always be themselves against the world. It didn’t matter that they both spoke, played, and ate the same as the rest of the students in their class. It didn’t matter that the kids were fond of them. They both came to realize that they’d never be the same as them and they would never been seen as the same. They wouldn’t be labeled as anything rather than “the two boys with the flowers”. They were unlike the rest of the students, and for that reason they believed that they would be segregated from the rest of their peers for as long as they’d know them.

It seemed like a grave conclusion, but it didn’t quite bother them as much as it sounded like it would. Makoto liked being around Haru very much. Haru didn’t always respond to his talk, but Makoto knew he almost always listened. Haru gladly protected Makoto whenever he was scared or nervous and took pride in it too, even if it was doing something as simple as just holding his hand to calm him down.

Haruka was there the moment that Makoto was brought into the world. Makoto was there to giggle at Haruka’s first word- saba. When Makoto was learning to walk and barely able to take shaking steps, it was Haruka who tried to act like a big boy and help him walk like he himself could; much to his shock, they both toppled over and Makoto began to cry from fright.

They had lived their entire lives together up until that point. To them, there couldn’t be a world without each other. That kind of world didn’t make any sense. How could they ever imagine a world without each other if they’ve been together for as long as their memory served them?

Maybe they still were unsure about the term “soulmates”. However, they already could agree together that it was okay if they didn’t quite fit in with anyone else in the world. It was okay if they never became able to form close friendships with others because of their flowers. All they needed was each other and from there they were both strong enough to take each day on together. Of course, it was a childish and unlikely prediction, but it was just the way they thought they’d have to deal with their differences.

Speaking of such, something that also seemed to differentiate them from the rest of the children was the way they could communicate with simple glances. There were various instances of that, but the most striking and memorable of them all was a cloudy day when Makoto looked out the classroom window sadly. None of the children could figure out what was wrong with him and they crowded Haruka when he had returned from the lunchroom to fetch his class their meals.

“There isn’t sweet bread for lunch today.” He said after he’d taken a single glance at Makoto. His conclusion was confirmed by a sad Makoto bobbing his head so that the flowers and leaves on his head gently bounced. The kids were understandingly astonished.

Makoto and Haru were quite the different pair. Even the other teachers spoke of them and some of the other children in different classes wanted nothing more than to see the way they could communicate with simple looks. However, despite the constant attention, there was never malice against them. The students were kind and the teachers greeted them with smiles fairly often.

The only issue was that they never quite felt as part of the group and knew that the kids didn’t exactly think of them as the same either.

One cloudy spring day, they were allowed to have lunch on the playground instead of the classroom. Makoto and Haruka sat together under a tree with huge branches and bright green leaves. While Makoto happily ate his sweet bread, Haruka’s eyes lingered over a young boy and his mother entering the office to the side of their classroom. His gaze appeared indifferent but he was anything than that.

“I’ve never seen him around here before.” He finally said. He stole a glance at Makoto now, only to see the younger boy’s big, curious green eyes and chubby cheeks full of crumbs from the bread. “.. Seriously, Makoto..”

“Sorry Ha—Hey! Stop that!” He managed to pout cutely while Haruka wiped the crumbs away from his face with his sweater’s sleeve. “You’ll get your sweater dirty and it’s new!”

Too engrossed in their childish bickering, they didn’t notice the young boy and a different woman approach the both of them. It wasn’t until they joined the two under the branches of the tree that Makoto and Haruka ceased their bickering and peered up at them curiously.

Makoto let his eyes fall on the boy. He’d never seen him before either, he concluded. But it wasn’t that knowledge that grabbed his curiosity nor was it the tearful eyes or the smooth red hair.

Bright pansies bloomed amidst the locks of red hair. Much like his own and Haruka’s flowers, they still appeared a little too big for his head.

“Boys,” the young woman told them, squatting down to their heights. Her smile, like that of the rest of the adults who worked at the school, was gentle and warm. “This is Matsuoka Rin. The moment we saw him, we knew he’d get along well with you both so we placed him in your class. Please treat him kindly!”

He bowed before the two boys slowly. “I’m.. glad to.. meet you both..” His voice was quiet and made it obvious that he was shy. Makoto instantly remembered feeling that very same way on his first day and decided immediately to try to befriend Rin. Flower issue set aside, he felt bad that Rin had only met the both of them and was so painfully shy and nervous.

The teacher entrusted Rin to the both of them and left. Makoto offered Rin a piece of his bread only to be turned down. Makoto set his bread back down in its little packet and remained silent to hide his disappointment. He really did want to talk to Rin, but he felt like introductions were too boring and having to remember names would make Rin even more overwhelmed.

“You have flowers, too.” Haruka said suddenly. It was said in Haru’s typical blunt manner as he pointed a finger at the colorful pansies in Rin’s hair. It was followed by Makoto’s gasp and crossing of his arms.

“Haru! That’s rude! Don’t make Matsuoka-kun embarrassed like that!” he huffed. His head turned to his friend now to see Haru’s pouting face. Whenever Haru made a face like that, Makoto immediately felt bad.

Before the bickering could continue, Rin shook his head. “No, really, it’s okay..” With each word he spoke, it was like he retreated further into his coat. It was quite a curious sight for the other two boys and they thought he might just stay quiet afterwards and slide inside of his coat, never to be seen again. He didn’t. “I used to not have them, but one day I went to swim practice and we got a new member. When he introduced himself, both of our flowers just bloomed in front of everyone. He has chrysanthemums.”

“Chry.. san.. Chris and the mums..?” Makoto barely managed to say. He made a little face of discomfort. It was a hard word to even think about. He couldn’t imagine how Rin could have said it with ease.

“Close.” Rin smiled. It seemed like he was suddenly full of confidence, or at least just enough to be able to talk. “.. What about you two?”

Haruka turned his head and let Makoto explain. Makoto told Rin about how he had his flowers since the moment that Haruka was introduced to his newborn self. He told him that they’ve always been very close friends, and how their mothers had albums of photos of them together since they were small babies. He spoke of all the springs, summers, autumns and winters they had spent together; a cold winter day when they had both built a snow igloo together to play house, only to get sick later and scolded by their parents.

“I don’t know a world without Haru.” Makoto smiled. “He’s my best friend, and I’m his! It’s always been that way, and I think it’ll forever be this way between the both of us.”

Rin’s face was one of amazement. The two of them didn’t know it yet, but Rin was a sucker for romantic stories. He loved reading stories about princesses and their prince, and he especially loved it when his mother told him all about the day of her wedding. Makoto and Haruka’s story was like something he’d read out of a book or something his mother would tell him about her wedding, and he secretly loved it.

Haruka, on the other hand, seemed a bit annoyed. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from the giggling duo. “It’s really not anything to be fascinated with..” he mumbled.

Before Makoto could ask Haru what was wrong, Rin stood up. “Oh, I totally forgot!” he gasped. “I needed to be inside a few minutes before lunch ends so they can give me my seat. See you both in a bit!”

While Rin ran off to class, Haruka looked down at the floor. He puffed his cheeks out and glared at the grass in slight frustration. “He’s.. so weird.. He was dying of shyness earlier and now all of a sudden he acts like he’s known us for years..” he grumbled.

Makoto blinked. “He’s really nice. Don’t you like him?” He sounded hopeful, but he could tell by the look on Haru’s face that he was uncertain about Rin being friendly to them now. He thought Haru would remain silent like he always did and just let the subject drop and disappear, but Haru sighed.

“… He is nice. But you were so interested in him and he made you smile a lot, I was just thinking that…”

Haru’s voice trailed off. The clouds above them had become dark in some areas, and a strong cold wind breezed through the playing children and caused the trees’ branches to sway about. Haruka closed his eyes for a moment, his head tilted upwards at the darkening sky, so that his emotions could settle down and go away with the strengthening wind.

“But Haru, you’re my best friend.”

Haruka opened his eyes just as a warm hand cupped his cheek. It had some bread crumbs, but he didn’t mind. His gaze dropped down to see Makoto’s sweet smile and sparkling eyes. He was immediately embarrassed but absolutely did not want to push that hand away. He allowed that gentle voice and warm hand bring him back to earth and to a place where his thoughts did not match the dark clouds.

“Rin isn’t going to take me away, silly! I just want to be friends with him. He’s like us, Haru. It made me so happy to see that we’re not alone.” He tilted his head to the side. His cheeks were brushed with a light red color and he smiled to his ears. “Besides, there’s no one else in the whole entire world that I like more than Haru-chan! No one can ever replace you. I don’t want you to worry about that, Haru!”

Makoto’s hand moved up to pet the hydrangeas in Haru’s hair. They were as smooth and soft as they were the first time Makoto stroked them years ago. “We both have flowers in our hair for a reason, right? It’s because I like you very much and we’ll be together forever and ever, Haru-chan! I promise we will!” His voice was so sincere and calming..

Something wet hit Haruka’s face and trailed down his cheek. At first he worried that it might be tears and then he felt like an idiot for crying. However, several more wet drops fell on his face and he realized that it had begun to sprinkle. Rain was coming to their town, but not to his mind. A rare smile came to his lips to join the faint blush on his cheeks.

“I like you very much too, Makoto.”


	3. Chapter 3

The cherry blossoms came soon after Rin’s arrival. For the short time that they bloomed throughout Iwatobi, the boys would have their lunch together underneath the large cherry blossom at school. It was a beautiful sight of pastel petals floating through the wind but Makoto couldn’t help but be distraught over the petals that would fall on his sweet bread right as he would take a bite.

“Don’t whine over something I can’t help…” Haruka said, all while helping Makoto pick out the petals from his bread.

Each time Haruka would finish picking off petals, he would look up and be greeted by those big and shining eyes Makoto always had when he was happy or grateful. It always made Haruka blush faintly and have to look to his side. “.. Don’t worry. They’ll stop soon.”

Then the cherry blossoms left as soon as they came. When the blooming ended, Rin cried at the back of class. His pansies were wilted when he cried and the children attempted to comfort him as best they could. Even Haruka awkwardly reached out to him and told him they would come back for him next year.

It took a few days, but Rin was back to his normal self soon enough. He woke up one morning and his pansies were bright once more and he came to accept, like he did every year, that beauty was fragile and didn’t last forever. For him, it was a hard lesson.

Nothing stayed with him for long in his world. Everything and everyone left him eventually.

Regardless, despite his lingering fears, he found that his friendship with the two boys didn’t disappear along with the cherry blossom’s beauty. After they stopped blooming, the three of them still shared lunch under the tree. Makoto still brought sweet bread with him every day to offer to his other two friends, and Haruka still brought his own lunch box to fuss over when there wasn’t mackerel in it. There was no change to the routine they shared together. Because of that, Rin found some sort of comfort from knowing that not all beautiful things die fast. Somehow, he felt that their friendship would endure.

And it was true. Haruka and Makoto never did stop having lunch with him. Despite Haruka initially showing distaste towards Rin being around them at all, he got used to it. If it made Makoto happy then he didn’t mind. And as it seemed, Makoto was always happy to have Rin around even though he was growing to be a bit bossy.

They didn’t really mind that he was bossy at times, though. He was only that way when he felt excited or passionate about doing something.

Several more cherry blossom seasons passed before it was clear to Rin that he at least had two friends who would stay with him. And when he realized it in their fifth year of school together, he faced the dying cherry blossoms fearlessly and without a single tear.

When the days of that year became warmer, the three of them were able to abandon their coats. They no longer had to rush home to seek a warm shelter. Instead, they decided that they would play at the park together when they could.

There was one particular afternoon that stayed in Makoto’s memory for countless years. It was an afternoon marked by cool breeze and the orange sky. Big, grey clouds approached their town of Iwatobi, meaning that it would rain the next day and they would have to stay indoors.

After a round of bets underneath the tree’s swaying branches and leaves, Makoto somehow ended up halfway up a tree and stuck on a branch. At first he figured that he would simply go down the trunk and back to Haruka and Rin but as soon as he looked down at the pair, he lost it.

“Someone save me!” he cried. His camellias became drooped while he cried of fear. His arms hugged the rough tree branch as tears rolled down his cheeks. He couldn’t look down or he’d see how much like ants his friends appeared to be. He was too high up the tree to even dream of coming down by himself. “I’m scared, I’m scared!”

Of course Haruka and Rin were both concerned and wanted to bring Makoto back down. Yet all they could do was steal dubious glances at each other and then back to crying Makoto. They hesitated to act or even talk out of their own fear, which was much to Makoto’s immediate dismay.

Makoto ended up being saved some time later by a passing adult who helped him off of the tree. After some chiding and a stern reminder to not fool around, Makoto wasted no time in running straight into Haruka’s arms.

Haruka’s arms were warm. His heartbeat was firm and steady. Makoto cried in his arms and told him how scared he had been up there. He thought he’d never see Haruka ever again and that he’d have to live in the tree.

“Don’t be so childish…” Haruka scoffed. His eyes trailed off to the side but he never stopped hugging Makoto, not until Makoto had hugged him for six whole minutes and had finally pulled away after having had his share of comfort and reassurance.

They stood there with each other silently, as if letting it sink in that everything was okay and they were together again as usual, until Rin gasped out loud. Before the two boys could turn to him to ask what had happened, Rin had nearly disappeared from their side and into the arms of a boy who had passed by.

Makoto watched in interest like he normally would, until Haruka jabbed his side gently with his elbow.

“Ouch! Haru-cha—“.

“No –chan.” Haruka muttered. “.. Don’t be giving Rin so much attention.. He’s so weird, running into a stranger’s arms like that.”

“Will he be okay?” His mother had always told him not to talk to strangers. Makoto was baffled that Rin hadn’t been told the same. Shouldn’t it be common sense?

It seemed that Haruka was going to swat off the question as usual, but they were interrupted by the frantic waving of Rin’s hand at the corner of their eyes. They looked over, fearing that it was Rin’s attempts to get help from a dangerous situation, only to see the boy grinning widely next to the boy who he had run off to hug.

“Makoto! Haruka! Come over here!” He exclaimed cheerfully. His hand, outlined by the setting sun behind him, never ceased its waving until Haruka and Makoto had joined him.

Makoto immediately sensed something different when he stood before the pair. He couldn’t put his finger on the atmosphere he felt, but it felt strange. It felt much more different than how it was when it was just him and Haruka together, or even how it was when Rin was with the both of them.

It didn’t help that this new boy was taller than even Haruka. It wasn’t by too much, but Makoto’s childish nature made it so that it felt like the new boy was towering over all three of them. A big stature, such wide shoulders, threatening teal eyes.. and..

… Chrysanthemums.

“Rin!” Makoto gasped. An obvious sparkle came to his eyes along with a grin that almost spread to his ears. “Is this your soulmate you tell us lots about?”

The boy cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He ended up looking to the side, as if ignoring Makoto’s entire existence.

“You’ve made him uncomfortable.” Haruka scoffed, jabbing Makoto’s side once more. It earned a whine from the younger boy.

“N-no, no! That’s not it..” Rin wore a sheepish smile for a moment as he stepped in. Then his smile became more solemn. “.. Sousuke is just really shy, is all. He doesn’t really like talking!”

“Makoto is shy and he isn’t that mean.” Haruka said firmly. “Just because Sousuke is shy doesn’t mean he has to pretend that we aren’t good enough to talk to him.”

Makoto’s eyes widened and he looked at Haru in pure shock. “Haru—“.

Sousuke took a step forward. He towered over Haruka. His teal eyes glistened dully with the anger that likely overtook him from being criticized by someone he didn’t even know. “It’s Yamazaki for you. And you should learn to be quiet instead of tell me when I should talk.”

Haruka’s entire face went red. It was unclear if it was from the humiliation or rage that came from the nature of Sousuke’s response.

A moment of silence passed between the four boys until Makoto knew he couldn’t stand having to see Sousuke and Haruka stare each other down so viciously. He pulled Haruka away despite it being much to the older boy’s distaste. “Hahaha, okay! No more!” Makoto said with a worried, shaking voice.

He stood by fearfully for a few more seconds, until Sousuke huffed and turned back to Rin.

The rest of the day was vague to Makoto. He could remember them being led to a pond by Rin, who sat by the edge and excitedly pointed out all the fish swimming near the surface of the water for food. They sat together yet separately, with Rin sitting closer to Sousuke and Haruka sitting closer to Makoto. Makoto remembered watching the sun set and the way he had stolen glimpses of Haru’s listless eyes. He remembered seeing Haruka’s eyes reflect the changing colors from the sky, from orange to red and all of a sudden a blue darker than, but not as beautiful as, the color of his eyes. But he couldn’t really remember much else than the insignificant.

The place where his memories did reach was the walk back home. It was awkwardly quiet, and being children, the boys were much more fidgety about it than usual.

“Sousuke, will you be moving to Iwatobi?” Makoto found himself saying as he munched on a piece of sweet bread. He earned a gentle jab from Haruka to the side for eating while speaking.

“No.” Sousuke said plainly. “I’m just visiting. I didn’t think Rin would see me.”

Well, that didn’t really help much. Aside from Makoto’s camellias wilting from the reject, Sousuke’s response just made the upcoming silence worse. Makoto really wanted to ask why Sousuke seemed to be avoiding Rin, but by the troubled look on Sousuke and Rin’s face, he knew he shouldn’t push on any longer.

Their walk together under the dark cloudy sky was silent except for the sounds of people speaking gently as they passed by and the wrapper from Makoto’s piece of sweat bread. It was quiet until they reached the place where their paths split.

“I’ll walk you home.” Sousuke mumbled to Rin, brushing back his messy raven hair.

A smile came to Rin’s lips when he heard that. The boys hadn’t noticed until then that his pansies had been wilted; the only reason they ever found out was because they seemed to come back to life when Sousuke offered to walk Rin back home.

“Alright! I’ll see you Monday at school, Makoto! Haruka!”

The two of them stood there and watched Rin and Sousuke walk off together, until not even the shadow of their bodies was visible anymore.

“You see it, right?”

Makoto blinked. He thought Haruka was talking about the way Rin’s pansies had been drooped for what was probably their entire time with Sousuke. But Haruka bent down and came back up to show a chrysanthemum in his palm. It was still vivid, meaning that it couldn’t have been on the floor long.

“It fell from Sousuke’s head.”

“Isn’t that bad?”

Haruka shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe we should go to Rin’s house and give it to him tomorrow. He might like it or give it back to the weirdo. Who knows.”

Makoto smiled. “Good idea!” He exclaimed. Then he took a last bite of his bread, before stuffing the wrapper into his pocket so he could throw it at the nearest proper area.

They made their way back home together. The silence between the both of them was peaceful and they were somewhat relieved in the change of atmosphere. In his head and while he looked at the stars, Makoto wished that everything would be alright that night. Not just for him and Haruka, but for Sousuke and Rin as well. Especially for those two, he thought.

When they reached the stairs that separated their houses, Makoto heard a grumble coming from Haruka. He turned back to see the boy looking down at his hand.

“Poo.”

Makoto looked at Haruka’s small open palm. The chrysanthemum was still there, but it was shriveled up and brown. “.. It died that fast..?”

“Looks like we can’t give it to Rin anymore.” Haruka mumbled, seemingly ignoring the fact that the flower had died way too fast than what was possible. He let it fall to the ground and stepped on it before Makoto could suggest doing anything. “.. Hey, don’t give me that sad face. We can’t do anything about it anymore, Makoto. And I’m sure Rin wouldn’t want a dead flower.”

“I guess..” He sighed. He looked down at the spot where the flower had been squished into the floor for a moment before looking back into Haru’s eyes. “Are you gonna stay over tonight?”

Haruka shook his head. “My grandma and I are going to the post office to send some things to my mom and dad. I’ll be home later if you want to play.”

Makoto nodded slowly again. He sighed uneasily and shuffled his feet. “I’ll call, okay?”

The older of the two sighed. Makoto could hide his face but Haruka knew he was pouting. “… Makoto, Yamazaki is fine. I think flowers die sometimes while people are growing.”

“That’s not it.” Makoto mumbled. He managed to finally look up at Haruka and show him the pouting face he was making. “… Haruka, do you think soulmates get tired of each other and decide to not be together anymore?”

Haruka looked shocked.

“.. Sorry, it’s a dumb question.”

He shook his head and pat Makoto’s back. “.. I mean, you have to get tired of someone at some point, right? … Like sometimes I get tired of my grandma telling me to do things I don’t want to do. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like her and never want to be around her anymore.” Now his hand moved up and stroked Makoto’s velvety camellia petals. For that moment he was brought back to when they were small children and first felt their flowers together to rid of their anxiety and worries. “.. Sometimes I don’t like when you always eat sweet bread, but I like how you smell afterwards.”

Makoto smiled and even giggled a little. Without knowing, he tilted his head so that he was almost rubbing his flowers against Haru’s warm palm. “So that means Sousuke isn’t tired of Rin, right?”

Jeez. There Makoto was asking hard questions again. Hadn’t that last one already been enough? Haruka couldn’t help but rub the back of his neck and sigh a bit. “.. I don’t know, but I’m sure he doesn’t hate him. Rin can be annoying but… he’s not too bad.”

Makoto giggled some more. It warmed Haruka’s heart somehow to hear that laugh, especially after worrying that the younger boy was upset by how awkward the evening had managed to be.

“Okie, Haru.. I’m sorry for making you stay late. You should go see your grandma now before she gets mad!” Makoto smiled faintly.

Haruka nodded. He stroked Makoto’s bright camellias some more; curse him for having such vivid and pretty flowers. They made that dumb smile and grin even cuter than they already were. “Goodnight, Makoto. We can play tomorrow with the twins if they feel like it.”

That night while watching the stars that shined through the balcony’s glass doors, Makoto made a wish. He closed his eyes, cuddled up under his blanket, and wished for all his friends’ happiness. He wished he could see Sousuke at a different time, a time where he was happy and not so grumpy. Then his thoughts trailed off from his wishes and into a still, peaceful darkness.

He didn’t see Sousuke on Monday or for various cherry blossom seasons after that. And while his mind never did fully erase their encounter with the silent and awkward boy, Makoto grew to not make much of the encounter as all that time passed by.

One raining morning years after that day, Makoto woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating. He reached around on his nightstand a moment before grabbing it and bringing it to his face to see why it had gone off.

It wasn’t his alarm. It was still too early for his alarm to go off. It was a text from Haru. It seemed like he had woken up to see the rain pouring outside and felt upset, knowing that rain meant they wouldn’t have dance practice outside.

Makoto smiled sleepily and closed his eyes. He knew he was in to hear an especially grumpy Haruka while they would go to school. “Jeez, Haru.. there’s not much of a difference between practicing outside and indoors.” He mumbled. He stayed still for a moment and enjoyed the bed’s comforting warmth until he knew he had to get up. He stretched out his limbs before sitting up in bed. He wrote off a quick response to Haruka before he got up to dress for school.

He was in middle school now. He always thought about that while he buttoned up his baggy uniform. It felt like just yesterday that he and Haruka would go to school and play on the playground before they would have to go to class. The memories of having sweet bread wrappers in his pocket every day, the sounds of laughing children together at the playground, the many years spent where Haruka was actually taller than Makoto… they were still alive and well in Makoto’s head. But those days had really gone by in a flash. They were gone now.

In a way it felt like they really hadn’t been given much time to enjoy that youth. It wasn’t that Makoto hadn’t fully enjoyed it, but he felt like time had just passed by all too fast for him to realize that the innocence of youth was short-lived. Before he had fully realized that he wasn’t a cute, small, and innocent little kid anymore, he had always longed to be older.

And now he was. He was still a baby to his mom and he was still very young, but it wasn’t the same kind of youth as it was when he was in elementary. The children were different now and they greeted Makoto and Haruka differently than they did in elementary. They didn’t hold that same childish curiosity over their flowers like before. It was a more controlled and mature environment than before.

It was a thought that always got to him in the morning when he got dressed for school, as each morning he would notice that his body was starting to grow and fill up the baggy uniform a little more.

While Makoto quietly ate breakfast with the twins at his side, he snuck some texts with Haru. Haruka was upset at the rain. He wanted the rain to go away. He wanted to dance outside. Makoto smiled until his mother gently scolded him about using his phone at the table. After she’d given him his scolding, she smiled and told him that Haruka could wait for whatever it was that he wanted.

However, with the sudden knock at the door, it seemed like Haruka couldn’t wait to go to school and complain along the way about the rain. With his mother’s permission Makoto excused himself from the table and answered the door. He already could imagine the sight that he would be greeted with. Haruka’s grumpy face as he stood under a blue umbrella. His grumbling to make Makoto move along faster and…

“… Rin?”

Makoto didn’t even get to process that in his mind. Rin had already thrown his arms around the bigger boy and began to just sob.

“Ah.. hey, what’s wrong?..” Makoto asked him while he gently rubbed Rin’s back.

Since they each went to a different middle school now, they didn’t see each other as often as they used to years ago. Makoto didn’t always know what was on Rin’s mind anymore nor did he get to hear his chatter every day. He would think that Rin would have made some friends to fill in that space that Makoto used to take, but..

“I’m so tired. I’m so tired of everything, Makoto. Sousuke has been gone for years now and he rarely ever talks to me.”

Makoto seemed confused. “Gone..? Gone where? Where is he?”

“America.” He cried. “He’s probably having a hamburger and ignoring my existence now.. He doesn’t like me anymore because I’ve been clinging to him.. Maybe that’s why he only sends messages when it’s convenient for him..”

So many things ran through Makoto’s mind at that moment. Rin’s tears. America. The dead chrysanthemum in Haruka’s hand from years ago.

“No.. no, Rin, there has to be another reason he’s gone and not talking to you.” He whispered.

“Then what is it?!” Rin almost yelled. He startled Makoto with the sound of his voice. “And why won’t he tell me why he’s gone?! Why is he keeping it to himself as if I’m not dying of worry for him?!”

Makoto would have shakily responded that he didn’t know, but he saw a hand come from behind Rin and swat the side of his neck. Rin stumbled to the side after being swatted and looked with wide crimson eyes at the sight of an annoyed Haruka under his blue umbrella.

“Don’t you dare yell at Makoto! Do you hear me?! You’ll scare him!”

Makoto wanted to tell Haruka that it was okay, but Rin started to sob again. He wiped his cheeks only so that they would become wet again with new tears. Then he dashed away, far off into the distance until the two boys couldn’t see him anymore.

Makoto was shaken.

If he could have hidden those emotions from everyone then he would have. However, it was all too obvious in the way he was behaving that day in school. He missed various steps in their choreography, he didn’t stretch properly, he was completely out of it when his teacher called his name to read a passage… It wasn’t only painful for him to be so shamefully shaken up, but it was also painful for Haruka to have to witness Makoto be so out of it.

During lunchtime, Makoto didn’t eat his sweet bread. When he sat with Haruka and their new friends for lunchtime, nearly everyone was in awe at his decision to skip the bread.

“Makoto-senpai, it’s clearly evident that something is bothering you!” One of their new friends was Ryugazaki Rei. He was a dork to say in the least and a boy ridden and nearly controlled by his anxiety. He was so dorky in fact that the other boys in their circle of friends had a game where they would count how many times Rei would fix his glasses daily. This time marked the thirtieth time and they were close to breaking a daily record. “What’s wrong? You would never skip the bread, especially not today when it’s chocolate flavored!”

Makoto bit down on his lip uneasily. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired today.”

“But studies and research show that people are prone to snacking more when they are tired! So, logically speaking, what you’re telling me doesn’t even make sense!”

Makoto looked exasperated. It was almost comical, but at the same time everyone else understood that it wasn’t the best time to exhaust Makoto like that.

“Rei.” One of the older boys, Serizawa Nao, reached out and placed his hand on Rei’s shoulder. He was not only one of the oldest of the group with a gentle look to match Makoto’s, but he was also one of four boys in the group of friends who had his fully bloomed flowers. He had bright and cheerful daises to match with older Kirishima brother Natsuya. In fact, Nao liked to brag about the fact that they were actually both soulmates with matching flowers.

Rei didn’t have to take a single glance at those daisies to know that he shouldn’t push on any further with Makoto.

They didn’t bring it up anymore. The day went on and no one bothered Makoto about what was going on. When they all parted ways outside of school, Rei told Makoto and Haruka that he was going to visit later in the day so they could study together. He didn’t say anything else.

While they made their way back home under their umbrellas, Haruka took in a long breath. It almost shook. “Makoto, I’m worried about you. You’ve been screwing up all the steps today. Do you want to talk about it?”

Makoto didn’t have much of a choice other than to say yes. But they definitely couldn’t talk about it here, or anywhere outside. He wanted to have a silent place to collect and say all of his thoughts without disruption.

When they got to Makoto’s home it had begun to nearly storm. They both kindly greeted his family and then headed into his room. Makoto’s heart was pounding out of his chest.

Haruka locked the door behind him and sighed. “… Makoto, what was all of that about? Why was Rin yelling at you in the morning? … Why was he crying? Did he say something to bother you?”

Quiet.

“Did Rin ever tell you?” Makoto’s voice fills the room and startles the both of them. It had been far too quiet for Makoto’s soft voice to ring out so loudly. It was almost eerie.

Haruka didn’t need to be told. He wasn’t interested about something that was personal for Rin. Yet his eyes peered upwards towards Makoto’s dimly lit face.

“Sousuke left to America. Rin says he’s been there very long… He hasn’t gotten very many letters. And he’s gotten none about why Sousuke has been gone so long..”

The sheets rustled as Haruka shifted on the bed.

“What happens in his life shouldn’t bother us, Makoto. Don’t be so nosy...” He mumbled. Haruka rubbed his shoulder. “.. Seriously. Sometimes I think you stress out over his life more than you do over your own.”

“I care about my friends a lot!” Makoto blurted out. Then he felt embarrassed and knew it must have annoyed Haru, so he looked down onto his lap again. “.. Haruka, I’m sorry. But you know I stress over every little thing.”

Haruka grew listless again. His body felt completely out-of-place for those short-lived moments, until his hand somehow found itself on top of Makoto’s. He relaxed almost immediately after his fingers traced over Makoto’s knuckles. “Don’t be sorry over something you can’t control… And don’t panic over something you can’t control.”

Silence again. Haruka would have given anything at that moment just to hear Makoto’s breathing, but the beating of his own heart was far too loud against the silence to hear it. So he sat there, until he heard sniffling.

“Makoto..”

There was no passage of thoughts from the time that Haruka wrapped his arms around Makoto’s broad shoulders. “Don’t cry... Seriously, Makoto, don’t cry. You don’t gain anything from crying.”

“I’m just worried. When I saw Rin cry today, I was so worried.” The boy cried piteously. “I want everything to be okay! I want to help my friends when they’re sad.. . I want to make them happy, too! If I can’t do that.. I feel…”

His voice was interrupted by a sob that escaped his throat. He couldn’t do anything but cry, overcome by his feelings of uselessness and sorrow.

For a while the only sound in the room was Makoto’s crying. Haruka’s hand stroked the bigger boy’s back in a way he found soothing. He figured in that moment that the best thing was to let Makoto cry and let it out. He would only intervene when Makoto was ready to face his eyes again.

The rain outside began pouring. Makoto’s cries were almost muffled by the sound of rain hitting the rooftop so roughly.

Finally after some minutes, Makoto was reduced to just sniffling and wiping his eyes. His eyes and nose were faintly pink in the dim lighting.

“Makoto.” Haruka whispered. He grabbed his chin gently so he could ease Makoto’s head upwards. “Look at me. It’s okay to cry sometimes, alright?”

Makoto was quiet.

Haruka’s hands went up to Makoto’s flowers. He stroked them slowly and closed his eyes when the sweet smell came to him. “You can’t do everything. You can’t solve all of our problems. You’re not a special superhero in that… but I like you all the same. And I don’t think you’re useless.”

Makoto’s bottom lip began to tremble again until he bit down on it. Haruka liked him all the same, even if he couldn’t make his friends happy. Haruka still liked him no matter what… and he didn’t think he was useless.

“If you need to cry, don’t hold it in.” Haruka said. “But… just know that, okay? You’re good at lots of other stuff.. like.. you’re really flexible when we do our dance routines. And your choreography is really good. And you’re always the first one to understand those dumb old poems in literature class.”

A smile came to Makoto’s lips now. It was shaking, but it was a smile. He wiped his eyes and trembled, perhaps overcome with the emotions that Haru brought him.

“.. And you do something that no one else does.” A blush had come to Haruka’s grumpy little face. “You make me smile just by being around every day. And you make me laugh with your dumb bread crumbs all over your face every day.”

A blush spread across Makoto’s face. His droopy eyes sparkled with life and his flowers perked up.

Haruka didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help but steal a glance of Makoto. Oh boy, was that a bad idea. That face he was making.. it made Haruka blush even more. It made his heart almost beat out his chest.

They sat there together silently. They sat on the bed in what could be considered silent admiration. The rosiness of their cheeks never faded away. In fact, with each passing second it seemed like their cheeks only got darker with their red color.

But when Makoto’s mother knocked on the door and told them “Ryugazaki-kun” had come over for a visit, it was as if that atmosphere had just died away. They forgot about their blushes. Haruka forgot how tightly he had just been holding Makoto’s hand.  
They got up from their seats on Makoto’s bed together. Haruka gave Makoto a silent nod, as if telling him in his own way that everything would be okay. Everything had an eventual solution. While still holding his hand, he squeezed it tightly and led the younger boy outside.

Outside of the room, Rei was fussing over his notes. He was erasing hurriedly at some things and scribbling other things in his notebook. He was unaware and unaffected by whatever had happened in the room just then.

Life just had to move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus. I'm kinda self-exposing myself right now but since it's my last year of high school (I'm a baby!!! lol) I'm super mega ultra busy with studies and applications and emotions! So I might not get to update this story as much as I'd like.
> 
> I never forget though, so don't worry! Stuff will go up eventually. Thank you to everyone who has stuck around and waited for this chapter.
> 
> There's a lot of things I want to say, but I don't want to make this longer than the actual chapter. I've changed a lot of things from canon (while still trying to keep what I would believe be their personalities and emotions) so I hope you all enjoy this AU despite that! Thank you very much!


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